Not a “Free Speech Zone”: University Kicks Man Off Campus for Praying [VIDEO]

Clemson University administrator Shawn Jones demanded that a local man who was praying with students leave campus last Thursday because he was not in a designated “free speech zone.”

Clemson maintains that university policy requires non-students to pre-register on-campus activities outside of designated areas, but students protest that the entire campus should be open to free speech.

Clemson University administrator Shawn Jones demanded that a local man who was praying with students leave campus last Thursday because he was not in a designated “free speech zone.”

Jones, Clemson’s assistant director for client services, cited the Clemson University Facility Usage Policy as justification for removing Robbie Roberts for praying while sitting next to a sign with the word “prayer” on it. The usage policy states that non-students are restricted to certain campus areas for their full right to free speech.

In a Young America’s Foundation (YAF) video documenting the incident, Jones tells graduate student Kyra Palange, who recorded the confrontation after praying with Roberts, that non-students are only permitted to exercise their liberties in designated “free speech zones.”

“This is not a designated free speech area,” Jones informed them.

“You mean there are free speech areas on campus and that the entire campus is not a free speech area?” Palange then asked.

Jones confirmed that characterization, and also called their prayers “solicitation,” despite there being no material or monetary exchange of goods and services involved.

In an interview with Campus Reform, Palange said she was extremely surprised by the fact that Clemson would kick a man off campus for praying in a non free speech zone, arguing that the entire campus should be a free speech zone.

“As a public and publicly funded university, I did not think Clemson would even have free speech zones,” she remarked. “I did not think it was legal for them to remove a non-student from campus simply for…

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